TMNT: life Goes On
by Leofan221
Summary: My name is Courtana. I have lived with the Turtles and Splinter since they rescued me from the Kraang when I was 10. Since then I have trained in the art of ninjutsu. The training has made me strong, but not strong enough to withstand this tidal wave of grief. My son, Caleb, is the only reason I'm still live. He was entrusted to me by his dying father, Leonardo. So my life goes on.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER ONE

I sat bolt upright, panting. It was 1:15 in the morning, far too early to be up and about. I needed something to calm my nerves. I sneak into the bedroom of my "son", Caleb, and watch him sleep. He was so peaceful, lying there in his little bed, sucking his thumb. After watching him for fifteen minutes or so, I go back to my own room. I climb back into bed and, despite my best efforts not to, my mind goes back to that awful night two years ago.

_ I was twenty-one at the time. It supposed to be just a regular night at the Lair. And it was, for the most part. I was making dinner like I always do on Thursday nights. I made Gile's special, a dish I learned from my mom. It was a base layer of scrambled eggs, on top of which went baked potato wedges, then mild salsa, then a whole layer of cheddar cheese to top it off. it was just about done when the perimeter alarm went off. "what the heck is going on,Don?" I asked the genius who had just rushed in and turned off the alarm. "Alarm picked up just a trace of something weird, but it just vanished." "Huh. That is so weird. Wonder what it was? Anyway, could you go get Leo? It's just about dinnertime. He's with Caleb in the dojo."I inquired. I smirked as I thought of Leo's son. He had entered our lives in a very crazy way. Leo had been missing for three months, only to turn up mangled, bloody, and broken in several places. His arm had been broken, but never properly set. Broken bits of bone stuck out at the weirdest angles. We only knew that Leo had been found because of April's panicked call. We dropped what we were doing and sprinted through the tunnel to her shop/apartment. When we got there, we found Leo on the couch, holding a little boy close to himself. It looked so much like Leo that one thing was obvious: That little mutant was Leo's son. Both father and son were severely dehydrated and malnourished. Leo was also very sick. We had April's cousin and a team of doctors come over and take Leo somewhere that they could operate on his arm. It was a success. It took a while, but we got both patients back to normal weight and strength. Caleb was so cute, everyone wanted to hold him. It's hard to imagine that Leo had ever been concerned that we would force him to abandon the little guy. It did take a little while to adjust to our new positions as aunts and uncles, but we loved Caleb, so it wasn't a hard adjustment to make._

I was jolted out of my reverie by two things: The smell of burning eggs, and the explosion that rocked the Lair inside and out.

**SO HERE WE GO. MY SECOND FANFICTION. PLEASE DO NOT KILL ME FOR THIS AFTER IT'S OVER. IT WAS JUST AN IDEA THAT POPPED INTO MY HEAD.**


	2. CHAPTER TWO

**THE EXPLOSION HAPPENED DURING THE FLASHBACK. SORRY ABOUT THAT.**

**ENJOY!**

CHAPTER TWO

_I was thrown back against the wall by the force of the explosion. I got up and looked where the blast had come from: the front door. Foot soldiers were piling in from the now nonexistent front wall. The fire caused by the bomb was spreading quickly. Soon it would reach the back part of the Lair. The Dojo! I thought and sprinted through the Lair in that direction, fighting as I went. I got to the Dojo just ahead of the fire. I saw Leo pinned down by a rack of weights, holding Caleb out so he wouldn't get crushed as well. I pulled several weights off before attempting to get the rack itself off of Leo. By now the fire and smoke were filling the room. Caleb started to cry and cough. As soon as I got the rack off of Leo, he grabbed my arm._

"_G-get Cal-Caleb out of he-here." Leo said through his coughs. He was desperate._

"_No, not without you guys!" I shouted back. I was nearly crying. This couldn't be happening._

"_Please, Courtana. Keep m-my son s-safe. I'll be fine."Leo said, taking his katanas out. He went business. I grabbed Caleb and ran, crying rivers as I looked for a safe place for Caleb. _


	3. CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER THREE

_I ran as fast as I could, barely able to see through my tears. I stopped to catch my breath and saw a small tunnel about halfway up the wall. The perfect place to hide Caleb. I gently placed him in the small space and turned to run back and help my brothers. I had only run a short distance when I was grabbed from behind by someone unseen. "Foot Tech Ninjas. Wonderful."I thought. I realized that my foot was caught in a crack in the cement. As I was pulled back, my foot twisted and I felt my shin crack. I easily took him down. I ran on, pain shooting up my leg with every step. When I arrived back at the lair, everything was a smokey blur of rubble and fighting forms. I saw Shredder and Splinter engaged in mortal combat. I tried to intervene, but was kicked against the wall head first. I came to and found that the ninja had left. "Oh, good. We beat them." I thought at first. I could not have known at that point the truth. I groggily picked myself up off of the floor and searched for my brothers and Father. I heard scuffling, so I went that way. I soon wished I hadn't. I found Foot soldiers piling somethings that looked a lot like the Turtles. I gasped when I realized that those things were, in fact, the bodies of the Turtles!_


	4. CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FOUR

_Yes, you heard that right: the Foot were stealing the bodies of the Turtles like some twisted trophies. The tiny bit of hope in this situation was that it was a crime in progress. They were still collecting their corpses. I chucked a smoke bomb to the other side of the room, causing a distraction. I dealt with them, then rushed over to examine my brothers. Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo were barely alive. They all told me the same thing: There had been just too many of them. Don grabbed my arm. "Leo. Find Leo." was all he was able to say before … before he drew his last, ragged, painful breath. I ran for the Dojo. The Foot had beaten me to the room. In a few seconds, I had relived them of their burden, and their consciousness. "Leo, hold on. I'll get you out of here, don't worry."I said, straining to carry him out of the door. _

"_Corrie, just s-stop, ple-please. Ahhh" Leo groaned and I saw that he had been stabbed in the side, so my actions weren't helping at all._

"_Oh, gosh. I am so sorry."I said, putting him down as gently as I could. _

"_Caleb? I-is he-"_

"_SHH. He's fine. I hide him in a safe place. I'll show you where, Kay?"I told Leo, trying to help him up without hurting his injury. He put his hand on my cheek, brushing away my tears._

"_Not … this … time … sis. I can't … magically recover … from this. Please don't cry. Listen, there's a huge responsibility that I have to … ask you to … take on. Can you do that for … me?"_

"_Name it, bro. You know I'd do anything for you guys."_

"_Raise my son. Train him …" Those five words echoed around the room without a response. I was stunned. Me, raise a child! I was honored, of course, but I was unsure if I was the best candidate for the job. I gave them all as good a burial as I could, after I had fetched Caleb from the side tunnel I had hidden him in. I ran all the way to April's place. I collapsed in a sobbing heap in her arms. Soon we both were grieving uncontrollably, distraught at the fact that our friends had moved on, leaving us behind … _I jolted awake, in a cold sweat, with Caleb shaking my arm. "What's wrong, Caleb?" I asked.

" I had a bad dream. Can I sleep with you?"

"Of course, honey."I said, making room for him and holding the covers open for him.

"Goodnight, Mommy."Caleb said as he drifted off to sleep, safe in my arms

**SO THERE YOU HAVE IT.**

**PLEASE DON'T KILL ME. THE IDEA POPPED INTO MY HEAD. **

***SOBS, SNIFFLES, CRIES***


End file.
